Cold Biscuits with Sorghum Molasses

Leftover biscuits from the night before, split open and drizzled with dark sorghum molasses. From the 1880s through the 1960s, this was standard lunch for timber workers — eating them standing up, syrup dripping onto their boots. Quick energy from molasses, staying power from the lard and wheat.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

• ½ cup cold lard (the more lard, the more filling the biscuit)
• ¾ cup cold buttermilk
• Dark sorghum molasses for drizzling
• Butter (optional, if available)

Directions

1. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Cut in cold lard with a fork until pea-sized.
2. Add buttermilk gradually, stirring only until dough just comes together. It will be shaggy.
3. Turn onto a floured surface. Fold the dough over itself 4–5 times (do not knead).
4. Pat out to ¾ inch thickness. Cut with a biscuit cutter or the rim of a cup.
5. Bake on an ungreased pan at 450°F for 12–14 minutes until lightly golden.
6. For lunch: let biscuits go completely cold — overnight is ideal. They firm up and hold together better.
7. Split each cold biscuit in half. Drizzle dark sorghum molasses generously over each cut side.
8. The thick syrup will soak into the dense biscuit, creating pockets of earthy sweetness.
9. Wrap loosely in cloth for the lunch pail.

Notes

Sorghum was cheaper than white sugar and provided deep, almost earthy sweetness with a mineral tang that white sugar couldn’t match. This combination delivered quick energy from the molasses and staying power from the wheat and lard. Cold biscuits were intentionally denser than hot ones — by design.